Hartlepool boss Ronnie Moore is taking his players to a gruelling Army bootcamp

Ronnie Moore

Richard Mennear

Published:08:00Updated:10:21Thursday 14 May 2015

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HARTLEPOOL United will not be jetting off to Spain this summer – with Ronnie Moore instead taking his troops to an Army barracks for a gruelling pre-season.

Last year under Colin Cooper, Pools headed to the state-of-the-art La Cala resort in southern Spain for a week of training in the sunshine.

There will be no sunshine and I don’t understand how you can go to Spain for a pre-season.

Ronnie Moore

But this pre-season looks set to be a whole different affair under Moore, with the squad spending five days at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, undergoing intense fitness work and team bonding exercises.

Pools didn’t play any matches in Spain, instead spending the week on the training field, with Cooper keen to make a change after years of going over to Holland on pre-season tours.

But after another season of struggle, Moore is favouring a different approach with a packed programme of eight pre-season matches lined up too.

And he says the squad should expect a gruelling few days as they look to boost their fitness levels ahead of the new season.

The coaching staff will be getting their hands dirty too as Moore looks to forge an even greater bond following the drama of the Great Escape in the final weeks of the 2014-15 campaign.

“There are no plans to go to Spain this year,” Moore revealed to SportMail. “Instead we are going to Catterick.

“There will be no sunshine and I don’t understand how you can go to Spain for a pre-season.

“For me, it would have to be 14 days hard work here first and then fly over there to play a couple of games but not just to go there to do your fitness work in 28C heat, or whatever it is, from 8am until 7pm at night.

“That’s not for me. The lads that come in here will know they have had a pre-season as we are going to let one or two of the Army lads sort them out.

“That is what we have lined up, for about five days.

“It will be the same for everybody though and we’ll be there in the bunks too – there is no special treatment for the coaching staff.